Cognitive Deviance

25. Rose Garden

"Whitey!" the Multi Man called out. "What the hell are you doing?"

"The fire," Whitey whimpered. "We threw them in..."

"They're no longer of any use to us, kid! Who could you possibly be—"

The Multi Man stopped. He glanced back at Crimson, who had since returned her sight to the fire. She still maintained a gaze full of awe and wonder. Then he looked back at Whitey. The fear in his eyes, his powerless position on the floor, the dagger in his hand smudged with dry blood. That was the same way he found him and his sister years ago. And he knew exactly who the boy was referring to.

"Whitey," he spoke in a low growl, "you don't want me to take you to the doctor, do you?"

Whitey instantly jerked his head up, and the Multi Man noticed tears were streaming down his eyes. "You'll never do that!" he shrieked. "You've been saying that for years!"

"I've also never spared people before! Not at least until I met you and your sister." The Man paused. "Things change, boy. Whether or not you can endure them is another thing you can change. Now get up here!"

Still shaking, Whitey emerged from the floor. He slid his dagger back into his pocket and made his way toward a broken escalator to join up with them. He wasn't in a hurry to regroup, for the traumas that plagued his mind held him back like weights tied to his feet.

The Multi Man turned toward Arthur. "I'm gonna miss Dawson," he said.

"But you just said they were all disposable," Arthur replied.

The Multi Man turned to his right, facing a dark corridor into the rest of the mall. "Crimson, bring him with us," he ordered. "Let's fine somewhere cleaner."

Crimson walked behind Arthur and shoved him forward with one hand on the chains wrapped around him. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

The unhinged girl beside him didn't respond. She only took a quick glance at him and quietly chuckled under her breath.

"Are the Apaths still working, Cohen?" the Man asked, facing the path in front of him. "Nothing personal about your injuries. Just angry that they got the House of Pleasure before I could."

"Yeah. Can't feel a thing."

Crimson burst out laughing. "Why would you tell him that, silly? Now he's gonna hurt you really bad."

"No," the Multi Man added bluntly. "I'm not going to hurt Mr. Cohen. I've already taken away most of what he had left. If I hurt him now, he'd no longer be able to comprehend the rest of what I have planned."

Crimson gasped. "Are we gonna show him the special place?"

"Yes, my dear, we are."

"What place?" Arthur asked, and he and the other two looked back to see Whitey running up behind them.

"Just wait," the boy asserted.

Arthur gulped, returning his view to the masked maniac in front of him. "So why do you miss that Dawson kid?" he asked the Man.

"Could one of you take off his mask?" the Multi Man asked in mild annoyance. "I didn't understand a thing he just said."

Crimson took off her gas mask and did the same to her prisoner. "I said," Arthur continued, "why do you miss Dawson? I didn't think empathy was your thing."

"That dork was so freakin' adorable," Crimson replied. "So hesitant. He could hardly even pull out his knife, let alone stab someone."

"Pretty much what she said," the Multi Man replied. "I like seeing watching someone change. I could tell the boy was hesitant at first. I couldn't wait to see how long it would take for him to grow comfortable with the sudden end of human life. Like watching the moon eclipse the sun. Nothing more satisfying than seeing someone find a way to be free of the constraints of empathy, finally questioning what reason there is to believe other people are somehow valuable."